Water Skiing

Like many other students, I am looking forward to summer. One activity many people enjoy is water skiing! Water skiing has a lot of physics involved. The basics are essentially based on angles and gravity. When you get up from the start, your ski must be at a certain angle so that the water pushes down on the ski, creating a downward force that enables you to stand up (otherwise you'll just fall flat on your face). Once the forces up from the water and down on the ski are equal, you're set for takeoff!

Tension, a pulling force, is also involved when the skier holds on to be pulled by the boat. Once the tension in the rope becomes constant, you will travel at the same speed as the boat that is pulling you, since there is a constant force with no acceleration. Also, since you are usually moving in a circular path, there is also an inward, or centripetal force, keeping the you in a circular path.

Can't wait to go do it this summer!